Jason and You Makes Two

Thanx go to Lisa for proofing this chappy and to everyone who reviewed. *hugs*

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Chapter 6

Mark glanced up from his meal and tried to hide the blush that colored his cheeks at the way Simon was watching him. Before taking his seat, Simon had informed Mark that he had the bill for his head injury with him and needed to talk to Mark about it. When Mark had gone out for his break without anything to eat, Simon had questioned him about it. After much goading on Simon's part, Mark finally admitted that he'd forgotten both his lunch and wallet and Simon had immediately gone and ordered his food without asking. Mark wasn't sure whether to be flattered or embarrassed by the fact. He'd never been the type to accept things from other people if he could help it, preferring to take care of himself.

"I'll pay you back for the food when I give you the money for the doctor bill," Mark announced stubbornly as he poked his plastic fork into his fruit salad and pierced an apple slice.

"Don't worry about it," Simon replied with a warm smile that sent Mark's heart racing again. "It's been a long time since I've been able to buy a meal for such an attractive man. It was my pleasure."

Mark almost bit his tongue at that and quickly finished chewing the bite in his mouth before saying, "This isn't a date and you know it. I have a boyfriend and…"

Simon's deep, rumbling laugh cut Mark off mid-rant as he reached over to pat Mark's hand in a soothing gesture. Immediately the temperature in the room went up by at least ten degrees as a spark of attraction raced up his arm. "I was just joking. I honestly only came to drop this off," Simon said as he reached into his back pocket to retrieve a folded envelope. Then he pulled out what was clearly a billing statement and laid it on the table between them. "I thought you might like to see it for yourself instead of just taking my word for it. The charges came to $34.67. Not bad considering they did an in-office x-ray."

"You must have some really good insurance," Mark replied as he pulled his hand back out of reach. Although he was impressed and relieved that he'd gotten off so cheaply, he was also disconcerted by his attraction to his new friend.

"It really is." With that simple reply, Simon turned his attention back to the half eaten sandwich on his tray. After he finished, he looked back up at Mark with a troubled expression. "I know it's none of my business, but I've been worried about you since we talked the other day. How are things going with your boyfriend? I got the impression that you were scared of him and, after what the lady said at the counter earlier, I can't help but wonder if…"

"We're fine," Mark groused before Simon could get the words out. "I've already told you that he's not like that. Chandra has never liked Jason because she thinks he's too possessive. He really is at times, but that's because he loves me so much and he's afraid to lose me."

"Still, it seems like it bothers you," Simon said with concern glowing in his eyes as he studied Mark carefully. "When we were talking the other day, you kept looking around like you were afraid he'd catch us sitting together. Then you refused to let me call your house. Jealousy in one thing, but this sounds more like an obsession. Is he at least seeing someone for his issues? I mean, what if he has a borderline personality disorder or something like that? It's obvious that he doesn't like for you to be around other people by the way you acted the other day. Are you even allowed to have friends outside of him?"

"Of course I have friends," Mark shot back glumly as he pushed what was left of his food aside and grabbed his drink. The truth was, Mark's already limited list of friends had slowly gotten smaller over the past few years, until it included only the people he worked with. Even that list was slowly beginning to dwindle. A lot of his coworkers were wary of Jason for no reason and, although they weren't rude to Mark, they'd slowly been pulling away. Others had lost interest in him when they found out he wasn't able to run around and hang out like some of their other friends were. Now, only a couple of them would try to strike up a conversation or chat freely with him during slow periods or breaks.

Simon looked at Mark closely for a few seconds, like he wasn't buying a word that Mark had said. Then he shook his head as if frustrated. "Let me ask you this. You told your friend with the pigtails that your boyfriend wanted you to take off tonight and you agreed to do it tomorrow. What I'd like to know is why you gave in when you clearly didn't want to?"

"I didn't give in. It's called compromising," Mark said with a sigh, getting a little more uncomfortable with Simon's sudden interest in Jason with each passing minute.

"According to…What's her name again?"

"Chandra," was Mark's grudging response.

"Right. Well, according to Chandra, this could hurt your chances for that promotion you were so excited about the other day. What I don't understand is why you'd allow that. What's even MORE difficult for me to understand is how Jason could ask you to do that if he really cares about you. I could tell it was important to you after talking to you for five minutes, so there's no way he couldn't have noticed."

Mark met Simon's concerned gaze with a confused one of his own. As much as he'd tried to put those exact thoughts out of his mind, they'd been bugging him since he'd left home earlier. "I really don't know why he acts this way," Mark replied honestly, his own uncertainty creeping into his voice. "I know he cares about me. He does. Still, he's always acted like my job is beneath me…or maybe beneath him? I'm not sure which it is, really. I think the only way he'd be happy is if I quit and let him support me. You know, become the perfect little Betty Homemaker and have his dinner waiting every night." A snort of disdain was Simon's response to that idea and Mark couldn't help but give him a self-deprecating grin. "Yeah, that's what I thought about it too."

"Don't get me wrong," Simon replied with a bright smile and another pat to Mark's hand. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with that if both partners want things to be that way. With Jason, though, I think it would be a horrible idea. If you think he's controlling now, give him complete control like that and see where you end up. I had a friend one time who ended up in a relationship where his jealous boyfriend kept pushing him to quit working and stay at home. When he did, things just went from bad to worse. The next thing I knew, he was pounding on my door in the middle of the night, freaking out because his partner had gone too far and beat the crap out of him over something stupid."

"You're kidding me!" Mark hissed, his skin breaking out in goose bumps at the idea. Simon shook his head gravely. "Did he at least fight back?" Again a grave shake of Simon's head. "That's just…If Jason ever pulled something like that, boyfriend or no boyfriend, I'd make him live to regret it!" Mark declared, and he meant it with everything in him.

"Tim used to think the same thing, but by that time," Simon explained grimly, "Tim had allowed his ex to tear him down to the point where he just took everything the other guy dished out without a fight. Apparently he'd been smacked around a few times before but that night things got out of hand and his ex went too far."

Mark could tell by the sadness in Simon's voice that it bothered him to talk about it and knew that Tim must have been a very good friend if he'd run to Simon for help. Still, he didn't quite understand why Simon was telling him these things. After all, Jason wasn't anything like the ex who'd abused Simon's friend. "You don't have to worry about anything like that where Jason is concerned," Mark reassured him, reaching across the table to squeeze Simon's big hand in a comforting gesture and ignoring the spark that seemed to jump between them. "He's really not like that at all."

Once again, Simon eyed Mark like he wasn't convinced and with a sigh, Mark stood from his seat and began gathering his things. "Listen, Simon. I have to get back. Thanks for stopping by to show me the bill. I'll be sure to call you when I have the money ready. It shouldn't take all that long to save up. I already have twenty of it put back and I get paid in a few days."

Disappointment washed over Simon's rugged face and a glow of something Mark couldn't identify lit up his gorgeous, piercing blue eyes as he hastily pulled a pen from his jacket and tore a small scrap of paper from the envelope. "You still have my phone number don't you?" he asked hurriedly as he began scribbling something down.

"Yeah," Mark replied curiously. "I hid it in my apartment. Why?"

"Put this with it. If anything unexpected ever happens come to this address. I'm sure you'll never need it, but better safe than sorry, right?" Before Mark could argue, Simon tucked the scrap of paper into Mark's shirt pocket, winked, and turned to walk away. "See you soon," he promised as he headed for the door, tossing his trash into the receptacle on his way outside. Mark just stood there and watched him go, trying his best to ignore the tingles that were still dancing across the skin of his chest where Simon's large fingers had brushed him through his shirt.

Despite his ever-present nervousness about Jason walking through the door while he and Simon were sitting together, Mark had still felt so sexually drawn to Simon the entire time that it was almost laughable. That knowledge only added to the aggravation Mark felt toward Simon in that , the man's words of warning had alarms screaming through Mark's mind. He felt…uneasy. Perturbed, Mark let out a growl of frustration for letting himself begin to have such doubts. Jason was a good man. Mark had seen enough proof of that over the years.

Simon's warning changed nothing. When Mark got home later that night, they'd sit down and have the talk he'd been planning for tomorrow, just to get it out of the way. Then they'd go from there. With any luck, Jason would see things his way and they could spend the next day relaxing together and enjoying each other's company. They usually did, after all. This afternoon had been one of the exceptions to the rule. While there had been more and more of those 'exceptions' over the past few months, Mark still had faith that Jason was reasonable and would take the steps needed to work through their problems. Every couple had them, right? Nothing worth having came easy.

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Gotta run! Thought I'd put this up real quick before I leave. Please review. I'd appreciate it.